They waddle down to the water to wash off the rust-colored guano that stains their pelts and produces a pungent odor that within days becomes expected with each landing.

FORBES: Go with the Floe

In the ancient oceans, green rust's ability to pull nickel out of the water would have been critical for some life forms, since nickel is an important nutrient for microbes that produce methane.

MSN: What green rust did long ago to the big blue ocean

Since NASA's Curiosity rover made its way to Mars, it's been sending back a wealth of data from our rust-colored planetary neighbor: landscape photos, radiation readings and even evidence of liquid water.

ENGADGET: NASA Curiosity rover digs Mars, finds sulfur, chlorine and organic traces of unknown origin